Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Just returned home the night before from Macau.
Had been away for holiday with mum and big sis to Hong Kong and Macau from 25 September to 01 October 2007. Time flies so fast whenever I had fun. It's gonna be work again before the next holiday comes.
Somehow the days to my ORD seems lightyears away.
Anyway my trip was supposed to be fun, cos it coincided with Mid-Autumn Festival, Halloween celebrations at Disneyland and Macau International Fireworks Display. But mum and sis can't walk much and fast. So they kept grumbling over distance.
Went to see the main attractions of Hong Kong - Giant Buddha (have to climb 200 over steps),Victoria Peak, Disneyland. In addition to somewhat off the beaten path to Tai O Fishing Village.
In Macau - Macau Tower (58th & 61st level with see-through glass floorboard such that many visitors shivered walking through it, including me at first), Ruins of St. Paul's, Largo do Senado and the newly opened Venetian Macao (integrated resort).
Mum and sis kept grumbling and said many times to me that
"people come Hong Kong is to shop and eat, yet go see nonsense stuff. Tell people they will laugh at us!" But I don't shop much, prefer to sightsee. To a point where sis gone shopping, mum slept in the room and I went on my way to Hong Kong Museum of History. It was a good museum. So many exhibits nicely decorated and good stories but so little time. Only an hour. Admission was merely SGD2.00. Comparing it to our local museums, I almost broke down. I remembered paying a whopping SGD8.00 to visit the useless Asian Civilisation Museum.
Embarked on a cruise on SuperStar Aquarius. I thought it was a good way to view the Victoria Harbour and its nightlights. Indeed it was, and there was a big group of 'Nihon-jin' tourists onboard too!
Macau was boring to me. Full of casinos till I thought I was in Las Vegas. Nights were brightly lit by the flashy and glittering billboards of the many casinos. Clearing the immigration checkpoints in Macau Ferry Terminal was really no joke. It was a shock to us on the very first day we touched down at Macau. We were stuck in the immigration queue at the ferry terminal, and was late for our ferry to Hong Kong at 4.30pm. Fortunately we were able to take the next available slot at 5 plus.
The only thing I like about Macau is its Portuguese egg tarts. So crusty with fragrant butter, sweet and juicy eggs flowing down. So much so that on the last day I took a taxi down to its outlet near the Ruins of St. Paul's to purchase more.
At the time of check-out (12 noon), I heard the sound of fire crackers. Sis was already standing at the window checking it out. It was China's national day. The start of the Golden Week. But too bad we could only hear it, not see it. Saw 2 caucasians carrying their backpacks at the roadside looking high and low. They must also have been difficulty getting on a cab.
Flight home was smoother than the one we took to Macau. That one took over 4 hours to reach. One could have landed in Taipei given that same amount of time. Bad weather conditions caused obstructions at Macau Airport so we could not land and kept hovering in sky till I was a little bit scared. The aircraft will suddenly speed up and ascend some more in the sky full of clouds. Never did I experience it before. Many times it did this.
I'm starting to miss the days.
Labels: Holiday
|Melvin Ng| 8:32 pm|
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